This page features the archived log of reports given while Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee had its initial release pending. This tracks the original release of the game on the Nintendo Gamecube.

December 16, 2002
The Japanese version of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, titled Godzilla: Giant Monster Fray (ゴジラ怪獣大乱闘), has shipped and is now available at Japanese retailers.

Also, to follow up on the previous report, the Heisei Mechagodzilla can’t be unlocked in the Japanese version of the game, and is instead replaced by Kiryu.

December 6, 2002Source:http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ngc/software/gzdjThe Japanese version of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, titled Godzilla: Giant Monster Fray, will feature the Millennium Mechagodzilla (aka Kiryu) in place of the Heisei one featured in the US version. No word if the Heisei one can be unlocked in it, more info as it becomes available.

November 2, 2002Source:Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power’s November issue, #162, has a pullout Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee poster in it along with five pages of strategy on the game. The magazine also reviews the game with a panel of four testers. For those curious, the game received a 4 star average, with one reviewer giving it 5 stars, two reviewers giving it 4 stars, and another two reviewers giving it 3.5 stars.

September 28, 2002
The following is a transcript of a e-mail response from Kirby Fong, the producer of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee.

Question: First, I haven’t seen any Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee commercials yet. Am I watching the wrong channels, or have they not aired? If it’s the latter, any idea when we can expect them?

Kirby Fong: “The commercial spot is being filmed now and should start airing about the same time the game ships.”

Question: I hear that the Super-X was removed. Is there a possibility that you can give any insight on the matter?

Kirby Fong: “We couldn’t get the Super X to work the way we liked with the time we had.”

So the Super-X has been cut, and we can expect the commercials to air in a little over two weeks.

September 27, 2002Source:Nintendo PowerGodzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee preview in Nintendo Power! That’s the October issue, #161. The game also ranks number 5 on the players choice. The November issue of Nintendo Power is going to feature a full review of the game.

September 12, 2002
The following is a transcript of a e-mail response from Kirby Fong, the producer of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee.

Question: EB now has Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee listed for the 15th. Are they “jumping the gun,” so to speak, by making this statement or has the date in fact been moved?

Kirby Fong: “I was told the new shelf date was the 15th. So EB should be correct.”

Sounds like we will all be getting G:DAMM a little earlier!

August 22, 2002A demo for Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee will ship with Big Air Freestyle for the Nintendo Gamecube. The demo will be an older version of the game; in fact, it’s the demo from E3, so quite a lot has changed since then.

The demo is 2 player only, meaning one will need two controllers to play. The game with the demo will ship around 9/10/02, depending on one’s location. So one can get the demo about a month and a half before Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee comes out.

If you want to purchase Big Air Freestyle, be sure to check out Amazon and purchase a copy.

August 2, 2002Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee has been sent to Nintendo for testing! Kirby Fong has just informed me of the news, so things look real good for the game meeting its October release.

July 21, 2002Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee trailer now online at IGN. The trailer gives many their first look at Anguirus in the game, as well as the opening cinematic.

June 29, 2002Source:Nintendo PowerGodzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee makes players choice! Godzilla ranks in at number 6 in the players choice section of Nintendo Power (Issue 158, July 2002). The players choice is a list of most wanted, or current released favorites. On top of the list is Meteroid Prime, some other games ahead of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee were Super Mario Sunshine and Resident Evil.

May 29, 2002
The following is a transcript of a e-mail response from Kirby Fong, the producer of Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee.

Question: I was wondering if you could reveal any of the other monster’s special attacks in the game (L + R), besides Gigan’s teleport and Megalon’s burrow?

Kirby Fong: “We’re currently working on moves for the other monsters, but not all will have an L+R move. This does not mean that they are weaker or not as fun, they just don’t need them. A good example would be Godzilla, he does not have an L+R move, yet he is still very powerful and effective. Gigan and Megalon was an experiment and I think it worked well for them. We’ll have to see about the other monsters.”

Question: Why did EGM list Rodan as a summonable way back when the first screens on this game where being released? Was he at some point a summonable and was then changed to a playable character?

Kirby Fong: “There was some confusion on this, but Rodan is playable.”

Question: Gamepro keeps rambling on about Godzilla 1954 being in the game, yet there has been nothing to indicate that this is true. Where is Gamepro getting this info from?

Kirby Fong: “There is no G’54. It was misinformation given to the press.”

Question: You said in a interview with Gamepro that: “We have the classic Godzilla that people have known for more than 50 years, along with 13 of his friends.” Does that included both Godzillas and 13 others? Or is that 14 in total? Also, at this point, I assume that that is not 14 playable, but just 14 kaiju that make an appearance in the game. To date I have only discovered 13, unless you count the Super-X, are there indeed more?

Kirby Fong: “There are 13 total monsters. We would love to have more, but there is this thing called development time and budget and it just doesn’t allow us to have more. We originally had plans for more, but the level of detail Pipeworks has put into their characters models takes time to make. We didn’t want to short change the game. I personally rather have a few well done characters then a lot of crappy ones. Pipeworks has done an awesome job with the character and overall game for that matter…”

Kirby Fong: “Nothing is final until the game is on the shelves. Remember this…”

Question: Will King Ghidorah in the game be the one from the Showa series (’64-72), Heisei series (’91), Mothra series (’98) or Millennium series (’01)?

Kirby Fong: “This Q is a bit difficult to answer. It’s not really from any particular series. We’ve worked with Toho and I think it’s sort of a hybrid character. You know the best features from the set. Wait and see…”

Question: Will Rodan in the game be the one from Rodan (’56), Showa series (’64-72), or the Heisei series (’93)?

Kirby Fong: “Same as above.”

Question: Is the current look of the logo on the E3 poster going to remain unchanged? Many have complained that the uneven lettering in Godzilla (GoDZiLlA) gives the title a campy feel. Many already associate Godzilla with campiness, but this seems to go out of the way to stress this point. What are your feelings behind it?

Kirby Fong: “The Logo was designed by our marketing team, I doubt it will change. I have no comment on the Logo.”

Question: How do Anguirus and Rodan fit into the plot? Are they being controlled by the aliens like the rest of the kaiju?

Kirby Fong: “Yes…and no….. ;-)”

Question: It has been told that if enough damage is sustained to a area, the military will send out the Super-X. My question is, do they have any other familiar vehicles at there disposal in the game, like the Maser tanks?

Kirby Fong: “Eh, maybe? ;-)”

Question: Unlockables (like secret characters, levels, options, increasing level sizes that are given by completing certain objectives) go a long way to increasing the replayability of a game, in particular fighting games. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being a lot of unlockables and 1 being a few, what would you rate Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee?

Kirby Fong: “8, more if we have time.”

Closing: Well thanks for your time. Also, I would like to thank you for finally giving us a Godzilla game worthy of the name, and that fans can be proud of.

Kirby Fong: “Welcome and Thank you… -Kirby”

May 29, 2002Cats out of the bag, all of the kaiju in the game have been discovered. Appears that Pipeworks decided to cut down the number of monsters that were going to be in the game so that they could concentrate on fine tuning the ones that are already in it (check the Characters section for the ones known to be featured).

March 30, 2002Dan Duncalf, the President of Pipeworks, has agreed to answer another series of questions regarding the newly announced game. Below is a transcript of the e-mail responses.

Question: According to a press release: “More than 14 monsters, each carefully modeled from the record-setting movie franchise, appear in the game.” This is in contradiction to your previous reply, is this referring to the number of playable kaiju in the game, or does it include the summonable monsters in the tally, like Rodan and Mothra?

Dan Duncalf: “The ‘More than 14 Kajiu’ that are referred to, includes all references to monsters… playable, summonable, or other. And no, I won’t answer what is in the ‘other’ category.”

Question: Are you a fan of Godzilla? If yes, were you a fan before or after work began on the game?

Dan Duncalf: “As far as being a Godzilla Fan, Isn’t everybody? I mean, who doesn’t like a Giant Lizard that fights other evil monsters! Well, ok… So I wasn’t a starkraving G-Mad G-Fan attendee, but I had watched all the new GZ movies, and most of the old ones.”

Question: After looking at various screen shots it seems that the action is similar to some of the scenes in seen in Masaaki Tezuka‘s Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2001) , which was fast paced and had “elaborate” scenes with Godzilla, most notably when he jumps and tackles Megaguirus. The screen shots I am referring to is when Godzilla uppercuts (Super) Mechagodzilla, and when he is slamming his head into the pavement.

Dan Duncalf: “We weren’t trying to copy that scene when we did those screen grabs. And I can’t really comment on the pace of the game either. You will just have to wait until E3, when attendees will be able to play for themselves.”

Closing: Thanks for your time.

Dan Duncalf: “I’m sorry that I could not give you any more information, but it is being tightly controlled so various magazines can get their exclusives. Keep checking our web site, and I imagine we will build a mailing list to keep people who are very anxious informed about when, and where new information will be available. Best Regards, — Dan”

March 26, 2002Dan Duncalf, the President of Pipeworks (the company developing the game), was kind enough to answer a few questions regarding the newly announced game. Below is a transcript of the e-mail responses.

Question: I have a few, brief, questions regarding Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee, if you don’t mind. First off, why isn’t the game mentioned on your company’s site (http://www.pipeworks.com)?

Dan Duncalf: “Because until Friday, its been a secret. We will put up a couple of links for it in about a week.”

Question: Any chance of divulging which characters are set to be featured in the game? EGM ran an article confirming that Godzilla (2000), Mechagodzilla (Heisei), Gigan, Anguirus, Godzilla (Heisei) and King Ghidorah are in. Early buzz from message boards also suggests that Destoroyah will be featured as well. Furthermore, the copyright on Infogrames site says “copyright Sony and Toho 1998”, is this hinting at the inclusion of the US Godzilla? Any chance of clarifying?

Dan Duncalf: “Not at this time.”

Question: EGM has stated that there will be 5 secret characters in the game, while Infogrames has stated that the game will feature 14 characters. Does this mean 9 regular characters, with a total of 14? Or 14 regular characters, with a total of 19?

Dan Duncalf: “14 total.”

I would like to thank Dan Duncalf for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer my series of questions.

March 25, 2002Source:http://planetgamecube.comInfogrames’ press release surrounding the game has been released, revealing the game to the public for the first time.